Royals › Empress / Consort
Bao Si
Queen of King You of Zhou at the end of Western Zhou
Mural of the event “Beacon Fire Deception”, which this person took part in.
In late Western Zhou, King You was foolish and depraved, doting on the consort Bao Si and forcibly deposing Queen Shen and Crown Prince Yijiu in favor of Bao Si's son. This enraged the powerful western state of Shen and brought frontier defense to the breaking point.
Also known as Lady Bao · Queen Bao Si
- Roles
- Empress / Consort
Bao Si, from the state of Bao, was queen of King You of Zhou at the end of the Western Zhou and the mother of Bofu. The king removed Queen Shen and the crown prince Yijiu and installed Bao Si and Bofu instead. The Records of the Grand Historian says he lit beacon fires to make her laugh, though no enemy came; the Tsinghua bamboo slips omit this and some scholars think it invented. In 771 BCE the Marquis of Shen and the Quanrong took Haojing, killed the king and ended the Western Zhou.
Life and times
- c. 790 BCEBorn
Zhou - 771 BCEBeacon Fire Deception
Took partIn the traditional account, King You's false beacon alarms cost allied trust; when Quanrong attacked Haojing, help failed and Western Zhou fell.- Beacon Fires and Western Zhou's FallKing You Lit Beacon Towers to Please Baosi Causing Fall of Haojing
- Beacon Fires and Western Zhou's Fall
- c. 771 BCEDied
Family tree
- Direct kin
Bao SiHusband
Connections
- Shared events1